How to Make Healthy Lavender Lemonade with Essential Oils

Lavender seems to be the latest flavoring trend, and for good reason. I’ve seen it in lavender ice cream, lavender lattes, and of course, lavender lemonade.

Lavender adds an intriguing floral flavor to your favorite treats.

I’m pretty sure no picnic would be complete without a tall, cold glass of sweet and tangy lemonade. I have many fond memories of my mom’s homemade lemonade served alongside chicken and potato salad.

There are so many things to love about lemonade. Not only is it incredibly easy to make, it’s also delicious and refreshing on a hot summer day.

And when you make it at home, it’s quite good for you. Add in some food-grade lavender essential oil for lavender lemonade and it’s practically a health elixir.

So let’s talk a minute about the ingredients I’ve chosen for this recipe and why they’re so good for you.

Benefits of lavender essential oil

Lavender is probably best known for its relaxing qualities. Spas (and moms!) everywhere love it.

It’s one of the best essential oils for sleep and features in several sleep diffuser blends.

But lavender essential oil isn’t good just for sleep. Lavender essential oil is often referred to as the “Swiss Army Knife” of essential oils since it has so many uses.

Here are just a few of the other benefits you may experience from using lavender essential oil.

• reduced feelings of anxiety
• relief from head tension
• uplifted mood
• easier breathing during pollen season
• relief from the symptoms of the common cold
• decreased stress levels
• clearer skin

Benefits of lemon essential oil

Like lavender, lemon essential oil is full of health benefits. Some of its uses are similar to lavender’s uses, but it’s useful in its own ways too.

Some benefits you may experience from lemon essential oil include…

• reduced feelings of stress and anxiety
• increased energy
• better mood
• a stronger immune system
• healthy weight
• clearer skin
• better cognitive function

Citrus oils contain antioxidants and tend to have a detoxifying effect. It’s because of the detoxifying properties that I recommend making this recipe in a glass container, not plastic.

Benefits of honey

Although using sugar to sweeten your lavender lemonade makes for a delicious treat, I opted to make this recipe without refined sugars. When you substitute honey for sugar, you can use about 3/4 the amount of sweetener.

Honey is also generally better for you than sugar, although true, unrefined cane sugar does come with its own health benefits.

Honey’s health benefits include the following:

• it is high in plant compounds and antioxidants
• it may lower bad cholesterol and contribute to weight loss
• it has a lower effect on blood sugar than refined sugar
• it may reduce blood pressure
• it’s soothing to sore throats and can help suppress a cough

If you can find a good, local source, you may want to use raw honey rather than pasteurized honey. While pasteurization can extend honey’s shelf life, the high heat can also kill some of the nutrients naturally found in honey.

In addition to the benefits of honey, raw honey is

• antibacterial and antifungal
• a prebiotic that feeds the beneficial bacteria in your digestive system

Related: The Template for a Healthy Diet

Is this lavender lemonade recipe safe for children?

Some people argue that children should never consume essential oils. I agree that therapeutic consumption of essential oils (meaning, in large and/or sustained quantities) is best practiced for children or adults under the direction of a trained aromatherapist for a specific reason and for a short period of time.

However, there is a big difference between medicinal use and recipe use.

When you’re using essential oils in a food or beverage recipe, the total concentration of essential oils is very low. This naturopathic doctor, who argues against children ingesting essential oils, agrees that small amounts in a recipe are acceptable. And off-the-shelf products you buy in the grocery store are often flavored with essential oils.

What I would pay closer attention to is the honey. Doctors recommend not feeding honey to children under 1 year old. So I would not give this drink to an infant.

For older babies, I would stick to very small amounts, if for no other reason than the high sugar levels. But I don’t very often give my children sweet drinks anyway.

I let my 16 month old drink about 1/4 of a cup this evening with our supper, but I would not let her have an entire glass to herself.

What essential oils should you use in lavender lemonade?

When you’re using essential oils in a recipe, it’s absolutely critical that you use high-quality, unadulterated food-grade essential oils. Not all essential oils are safe for consumption.

Many times essential oils manufacturers dilute their oils with carriers or synthetic fragrance (even when the label says “100% pure”!) to make them go farther, so be sure you’re using a brand you can trust to pay close attention to the details and purity of their oils.

There are many companies that sell food-grade essential oils. Personally, whenever we use oils in a recipe, my family uses oils from the Young Living Vitality line.

They’re marked specifically for internal use, and I trust the purity of Young Living’s oils.

You can read more here about why I believe they’re the best essential oils company.

A note on dishes

When you use essential oils, especially citrus oils, you’ll want to be sure to use non-plastic dishes. Citrus oils can pull the toxins out of plastic, putting them into your lemonade… Which is exactly where you don’t want them.

I mixed this lemonade up in a glass pitcher using a wooden spoon.

Did you make this recipe?

Let me know what you thought! Do you love lavender lemonade? Or, like my husband, do you feel like it’s “an acquired taste”?

I’d love to know what you think. And while you’re at it, remember to pin to Pinterest for later!